She's a Rebel
by AmethystAngel89
Summary: She's a rebel, but I love her. She's dangerous, but dangerous isn't always a bad thing. JosieVaughn - set immediately following Nanotechnology.


Not mine. They belong to Jim. Jim, not me. Written for the Josie/Vaughn one-shot songfic challenge on StrangeDays - J/V is NOT a pairing I normally support.

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My father tells me that she's dangerous. As much as I don't want to believe him, I do, because it is true. Physically, mentally, emotionally...she's always there, and when someone puts that much strain on you, it is dangerous.

_She's a rebel   
__She's a saint   
__She's salt of the earth   
__And she's dangerous_

My name is Vaughn Pearson. My life is not my own, because my destiny has been written out for me in the stars. I have a few friends, but they're not part of my destiny. They don't know who I really am and I don't think they'll ever know, not after I betrayed them the way I did. But they don't understand...it's the only way to get my father to listen to me, to recognize that I exist.

My mother died before I could ever really remember her. Sometimes I think I can remember her voice, or the feel of her fingers against my skin...but most of what I remember is my father's neglect and lack of care. I remind him of her, and that much is obvious. He's alone, and seeing me reminds him of that. But I am alone as well...except for her.

_She's a rebel   
__Vigilante   
__Missing link on the brink   
__Of destruction_

Her red hair flies in the wind behind her as she grinds down a railing in the Saturday morning sun. Her friends are chasing her, trying to catch up, while I sit here from my room and watch her through the window. Bold and daring...she really doesn't care what happens to her. Now Headmistress Durst is chasing her as well, not laughing but yelling. Right on schedule...any moment now...yup, there he is, Professor Zachary to calm the Headmistress down, allowing her to get away. He's part of them as well, the Science Club. That's their name. The Science Club. It sounds so innocent, but deep in the heart of it they're trying to discover the truth behind the mysteries here at school - truths I don't even know.

_From Chicago to Toronto   
__She's the one that they   
__Call old whatsername_

She's like their leader...besides Professor Z, of course. They repeat this every Saturday morning...she likes to think she can get away with anything, but Durst knows that she does this, and is thus always on a lookout for her. Someday I'd like to tell her that Durst knows and that's why she's always there...but I can't. I can't bring myself to do it. Durst is a close friend of my father's, and she expects me to be on his side. Right now I'm not sure whose side I'm on...that's why I'm sitting up here instead of hanging out with them down there.

_She's the symbol   
__Of resistance   
__And she's holding on my   
__Heart like a hand grenade_

Before she arrived here at Blake Holsey, the last thing I would have ever thought of was betraying my father. But then she showed up. She's headstrong and confident, and now she's determined to discover the secrets of the school. A lot of strange things happen to the two of us together...the first time we ever really talked was after we'd been sent to the past through a wormhole. But that's just how this school works. Strange things happen, and the Science Club is out to figure out the reasoning behind it.

I formed a shaky friendship with her three other friends, and although we get along, I'm not sure how many of them would stick up for me no matter what. Lucas would leave me as soon as he could...despite the fact that I know I'm connected to him, just as I'm connected to her, he'd still leave me, because he likes her too. He says I'm like my father. Well, up until she showed up, I was exactly like my father. But now things have changed.

Professor Z took her skateboard, but I know she'll get it back as soon as Durst is gone. Z is cool like that - he's a really awesome teacher, and he accepts me. He believes, unlike Lucas, that I am not my father. Now the three of them are sitting down. She's sitting on the bench that I remember from when we went to the past...the bench my mother sat on. Lucas tries to sit down right next to her, but she inches away, leaning on the edge of it. Marshall and Corrine are sitting on the ground together...they'd make an adorable couple if they could get along.

_Is she dreaming   
__What I'm thinking   
__Is she the mother of all bombs   
__Gonna detonate_

She has the misty look in her eyes, and it feels almost like she's looking right at me. But I'm too far away, locked up here in my room, for her to see. I wonder what she's thinking about. I can't help but wonder if she's thinking about me, because God knows I'm always thinking about her.

Professor Z joins them now, sitting down on the bench between her and Lucas, holding her skateboard. As I watch Durst recede into the building, he hands it over to her, just like I expected. Her misty eyes disappear and she smiles, while Lucas only looks disgruntled. Serves him right.

She's in my destiny; I just know it. Too much has happened for us to not be connected. I think we're all connected. Corrine is part of this too - she's the resident genius, and without her a lot of things could have gone wrong in the past. Marshall is part of it because his brother works for my dad, and family is a bad thing to have at Peardyne - her mother works with my father as well.

_Is she trouble   
__Like I'm trouble   
__Make it a double   
__Twist of fate   
__Or a melody that_

I don't know what part Fate set up for Lucas to play in our destinies, but I know he's in them somewhere. Some weird shit has gone on between me and Lucas, and I know he's in it somewhere. I think the only person who really knows what's going on is that janitor - he's everywhere and he seems to know so much. Even my father doesn't know all of it.

I'm watching them sitting down there, talking and laughing, and all I want is to be down there with them. But Lucas has still barely forgiven me, and I don't want to spark anything bad between the two of us - he's a good ally for a person like me. He has the brains, and I have the brawn. If we could get along, we'd make a perfect team.

_She sings the revolution   
__The dawning of our lives   
__She brings this liberation   
__That I just can't define   
__Nothing comes to mind_

She really has changed my life since she came here. Before, I was nothing but a pawn of my father. It was her journal that caused me to get involved in the science club anyway, and without having read that my father never would have made me join them. But I did join them, and I became friends with them. They're the closest thing I've ever had to real friends in my entire life, and it's all thanks to her. I wish I could tell her how much she truly means to me, but what I want to do - that would be a bad move.

We've kissed before. Not that often and not enough for either of us to really have a relationship. Despite that, the whole school knows there's something between us. My father knows there's something between us. Corrine, Marshall, Lucas, Z, Durst, they're all fully aware that there's something between the two of us. I don't know if it's just infatuation, or if it is part of our destiny, but it is there.

_She's a rebel   
__She's a saint   
__She's salt of the earth   
__And she's dangerous_

I look down through the window to try to spot her again, only to discover that she has left the circle of friends. I examine the faces of her friends, trying to derive an answer from them. Lucas looks a little annoyed, Z looks content, Corrine is talking at a mile a minute, and Marshall looks bored. He could just be annoyed that she left, though, so that doesn't help me. I was going to go out there and talk to them...but I guess not. She's my only link into them. She's a rebel...she doesn't conform to their ideas and opinions of me, but sticks it out with me. She's the only one I consider a true friend.

_She's a rebel   
__Vigilante   
__Missing link on the brink   
__Of destruction_

There's a knock at my door. I turn to open it, but it's already creaking open. I spot a flash of red and my heart leaps. It's her. She pushes open my door lightly, and stops short when she notices my eyes on her. But it only stops her for a moment, and soon she continues walking into my room, the trace of fear gone from her eyes. Her boldness is bound to get her in trouble...someday. But now, I appreciate it. She comes over and sits on my bed, almost like she owns it. She begins to speak to me.

"I wanted to say..." she sighs for a moment, and I have a distinct impulse to go over and wrap my arms around her. The closest I come to resisting it, is moving over to join her, seated on the bed. She takes a deep breath and smiles. "I wanted to say...I wanted to thank you, for saving me. It would have been really bad if that camera...well...you know. I wanted to thank you for being the better man and going to see Lucas before it was too late..." I smile on the inside. Although it was Lucas who saved her, it was me she was thanking.

"Josie," I begin, her name resonant in my mind and on my lips, "Josie, you were in trouble, and we didn't know what to do. I just...I couldn't let anything happen to you. You mean too much to me..." I stop, feeling as though I've said too much. Her eyes glaze over for a second; bringing the misty-eyed dreamer I love, before disappearing back to the headstrong skater that I also love. She laughs.

"You're getting to be a lot like him, you know. He's not changing, unfortunately. You two would make a cute couple," she teases. I give her a horrified look before laughing along with her.

"Nice try, Miss Trent. But you know my heart belongs to someone already, and it's not Lucas." She laughs as she inched closer to me on the bed.

"And, who might that be?" she asks innocently. If only there were words to describe the look in her eyes at this moment...playful and innocent, but with a rebellious, headstrong, determined look as well, tinged with a hint of what I think could have been...lust? Whatever it is, it brought up the feelings I've tried to hard to repress for her, and I lose all sense of control.

"Josie, Josie, Josie," I begin, running my fingers down her face lightly. I notice her shiver, and grin. "You know her quite well, actually. She's somewhat new here, compared to the rest of us...her mother works with my father, and I always wondered why I never met her before. Gorgeous girl, she is. Cinnamon hair, eyes like brown sugar...she's a beautiful delicacy..." She laughs again.

"Flatterer...I do hope it's me you're referring to?" she asks, teasing. But I tease back.

"Nah, I'm talking about the other Josie P. Trent in Blake Holsey," I smile. She giggles, her face inches from mine. All of a sudden, she leans in, and kisses me. She tastes like cinnamon and sugar...she really is the sweetest thing ever. Her hands reach and entangle themselves in my hair, and I feel her trying to get in further...deepening the kiss until the passion almost overwhelms me. My hands tangle in her fiery hair, and I melt into her and I can feel her melt into me. She breaks away from me suddenly, smiling.

_She's a rebel   
__She's a rebel   
__She's a rebel   
__And she's dangerous_

"Whoa, Josie...what was that for?" I ask, my head still spinning from the kiss. She just grins, a secret smile that I've never seen before.

"To see if you had changed in more ways than just one." I think for a moment, attempting to figure out what she means by it. Then it dawns on me.

"You kissed Lucas today too, didn't you?" She giggled in response, and nodded. "And?" I ask somewhat nervously, hoping in my heart that I know the answer. A seductive grin is her only response, and I can feel my body tensing up again under that beautiful face.

"You're a lot like him in many ways, Vaughn," she says, leaning out to look at him through the window. Looking down and following her smile, I can see that Corrine switched places with Lucas, and she's involved in a deep conversation with Z while Lucas and Marshall just chat. She turns back to me. "But kissing is definitely one place where there's a clear distinction. There's a spark with you that just isn't there with Lucas. It's our destiny."

She kisses me again.

I'm in love with Josie P. Trent.

_She's a rebel   
__She's a rebel   
__She's a rebel   
__And she's dangerous_

'Aw, screw my father,' I think to myself as she pushes me down onto my bed with a smile.

My door swings shut as a visible pulse of energy runs through it. The BHH energy is dangerous, just like Josie.

But dangerous isn't always so bad.


End file.
